The surface oxidization characteristics of sponge Ti, hydrogenized TiH2 and dehydrogenized HDH-Ti are investigated by XPS depth analysis. The results show that the oxygen content increases after the hydrogenation and decreases after the dehydrogenation. Meanwhile, the H2O (g) is released in the dehydrogenation process of TiH2. The H atoms react preferentially with Ti3O5 followed by Ti2O3, TiO2, TiO in the dehydrogenation process of TiH2. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V.